Saturday, August 30, 2014

Adding another member to a family... brings a lot of change. All of our schedules and routines are thrown out the window... bedtimes aren't as consistent (happy to say, the girls still are in bed by 8 pm or earlier), the house is a messy/disorganized disaster, hobbies are put on hold (for Mommy at least), lack of sleep (which means Mommy walks around in a zombie state of mind), outings are put on hold (because you know, it's tough to breastfeed those first few weeks when there's no real "feeding schedule"), laundry piles up, fighting the feeling of guilt because you're not playing with your other children as much as you used to, dressing yourself becomes the most tedious thing ever because of your postpartum body... change... or in this case, it feels more like chaos, because there's no rhyme or reason to your days.

It's in those moments that it's really easy to start throwing yourself a pity party (been there, done that)... feel like you're drowning... allow your joy to be stolen...

So, I'm trying my best each day to remind myself of finding peace in God's abundant grace, and to focus on all the victories and "little things" that bring me much joy... rather than all of the chaos.

Here are just a few of those moments/things that have brought me joy this week:

- A big bowl full of yummy watermelon...

- Watching Marley enjoy said watermelon...

- All of her dribble juice from said watermelon...

- Having an outside space to "play" in...

- Finn and the adorable way that he puts his arms...

- Sweet little baby toes...

- Beautiful colors on beautiful blossoms...

- Charlotte's "pregnant" belly...

- Charlotte pretending she just had a baby, and snuggling said baby...

Monday, August 25, 2014

Just a little over a year ago... I blogged, "A Day In The Life "... it was my first day solo as a Mom of 2... and today... was my first day solo as a Mom of 3...

I thought it would be fun to capture a picture (or sometimes more than one) every hour of the day, while the hubby was at work... to remember how this very first day went down... to look back on this day, and laugh at "how I did it."

I meant to place my camera right on my bedside table, but my brain completely forgot to do that the night before... so... the first 2 hours are documented by a few photos... and then I got right into the hourly rhythm.

6:45- 8:00 am: the first one to wake was Finn... He pretty much enjoyed a 30 minute feeding session before Marley woke up... and then Charlotte was up and "snuggling" her baby... My morning cup of coffee didn't happen until just about 8:00 am... oh those first few sips... they are amazing...

9:00 am: We made our way outside on the front porch to grab some fresh air before it got too hot. It's the perfect little place to contain the girls with toys while I feed Finn or fold clothes or water plants, etc.

10:00 am: Put Marley down for a nap, and made my way back out to the front porch to stuff diapers and help Charlotte string her beaded necklace...

11:00 am: Marley refused to nap (teething, BIG TIME) so she was out of her crib by 10:30 and we spent this whole hour playing and picking up around the house. I even made my bed...

12:00 pm: Fed lunch to the girls... and rushed to head out the door for our 1 o'clock appointment for Charlotte at the Audiology clinic.

1:00 pm: We made it to the appointment on time... in fact, I was actually 4 minutes early... I was completely elated... and all of the kids behaved super well.

2:00 pm: Made it home, after a quick stop at Starbucks to treat Mommy to an iced drip coffee. Marley never napped ... again... thank you teething (this just means she would go to bed super early).

3:00 pm: Snack time on Mommy and Daddy's bed... after Finn had a long feeding session. This was also, "torture the kitty" time.

4:00 pm: Did a little baking... it kept the girls occupied, and got rid of some of the old bananas that were just sitting around.

5:00 pm: Pulled the muffins out of the oven... YUM! Started prepping dinner.

6:00 pm: Finished cooking dinner, while the girls watched 1 episode of SUPER WHY... I'm proud to say, that I made it the whole day with only 1 viewing of a 30 minute show! Seriously... pat me on the back.

Sometime close to 6:00 pm... Daddy made his way home... which meant... I survived our first day.

Honestly, this is probably one of the quickest Mondays that I have ever experienced... It was, for the most part, a very relaxed day... and I can't complain.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

There's nothing quite like capturing a "generations" image... Finn is the first boy in his generation to be a Davis... and there's nothing more precious than capturing all the guys together... Finn, Daddy and Papa "D"... melt.my.heart This kid has A LOT to live up to.

So excited to see what becomes of Finn... will he head into the military like these guys did? Will he do Ministry like his Papa "D" does now? Will he learn a new trade, like woodworking like Daddy? Will he swim just like Daddy? Will he have sons to pass down the middle name, "Mostyn" to? There are so many physical similarities even between these generations... but to watch and see who he will become, is the fun part.

Oh so much to look forward to in the future... this is only the beginning.

Saturday, August 23, 2014

For the last week, we've had Grammie and Papa "D" with us... there is nothing better than grandparents and their grandkids... watching how they pick up just where they left off...

We've had days/nights filled with laughter... sweet conversation... and loads of ice cream. What will we do without them?

I suppose we'll continue to get ourselves back into some sort of a routine... a routine where we will gradually get schooling started for Charlotte again, where Finn will stop confusing his nights with his days, and where Marley will finally decide to favor walking over crawling (she can walk, but she's way too stubborn to)... a routine where we continue to beat the heat and enjoy the rest of summer.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Today we celebrate 2 weeks with Finn... and as I sit here and type up his birth story.. I can't help but look down and stare in awe at my little man (he kind of looks like a grumpy old man with how many wrinkles he has).... how tiny he is, but rejoicing that he's nearly back up to his birth weight (just shy an ounce) and how well he's doing. These first 2 weeks have flown by.. just like that.

I close my eyes, and try and remember all the details about Finn's birth story... but his labor/delivery happened so fast, I'm certain that I'm going to miss something. I did want to jot it down however, before it completely escaped my mind. To remember the details... is all I can give him, about the day he made his grand entrance into this world... his birthday, August 5th.

It all started that afternoon... wait, let me share a little background history first. On the eve of Marley's birth... Charlotte wet the bed that night... Early morning on the 5th, Charlotte came into our room at 5 am, crying... she had wet the bed. She hadn't wet the bed in 1 whole year... sounds like I might just have my barometer for anytime I need to give birth...

That morning I was feeling terribly exhausted... but I let the hubby sleep in (he was off for vacation that week), and I took care of the girls. Looking back, I bet Marley sensed something as well, because she was extremely "needy" and wanted to smother me with love the entire morning. Around 10 o'clock, Marley went down for her nap... and I had the option: either sew my cushions for my front porch or nap... I chose, sleep. For this busy body, I should have known something was up at this point. I laid down, and slept like a rock. I didn't have to get up to pee, none of the kids interrupted me... it felt divine. At noon, I woke up hearing Marley wake from her nap on the monitor, and that's when I sat up in bed, and felt a tinkling leak out of my body... I rushed to the toilet, but still left a fairly big puddle behind... I peed... hmm, could my water have broke, or did I just pee myself... not quite sure. As I made my way out the living room, where my husband was with the girls... I was taking my shorts off and what not to place into the laundry... "Honey... I can't believe I just peed myself..." and as I bent over to get them off my legs, BAM... water on the floor... "Honey... my water just broke... this is happening today." As panic began... I started delegating the girls and my husband to start cleaning the house, and getting things in order, because I wasn't "coming home to a mess"...

Contractions didn't come on right away. In fact, I was able to set the house in order, finish packing our bags, shower, and fold laundry all before they started to get intense. They started around 2:30 pm... very irregular at first, but after about 15 minutes, they began to come on every 5 minutes... and I labored at home for another 45 minutes, before I knew we needed to start heading to the hospital. I couldn't talk through the contractions, and couldn't move around through the contractions at all... they took my breath away. We dropped the girls off at 3:30 pm with my sweet friend... and made it to the hospital by 4:00pm. This whole time, from the point where my water broke, up until now, I had tried to get in touch with my midwife... but she was "not in the clinic", it was her "off" day. As soon as we made it up to the Womens/Newborns Urgent Care... where Labor and Delivery is (took awhile, because stubborn me declined the wheelchair)...we managed to get up to the floor, and checked in by 4:30 pm. They needed to make sure I had indeed "broke my water"... and that tested positive immediately... I mean seriously, all they had to do, was look down at my fresh new shorts that I had on... they were soaked with fluid from the car ride. I asked who the midwife "on call" was... and to my surprise, in walks my midwife... and I'm pretty sure I immediately started crying because the sight of her, just made me happy, and the pain was unbearable. It was her "off" day in the clinic, but that meant she was "on" for the hospital.

They brought us to RM 11... the one I delivered Marley in... it was my midwife's request... and she thought it would be good luck for me. I was thankful to her, for that gift... we got settled, and I put my robe on... and continued breathing through contractions, which at this point were about 3 minutes apart... and fairly strong. At that point, my midwife decided to "check" me... and I became acquainted with my first L&D nurse Lori... who spent the rest of her shift, trying to plug an IV into my arm... NO LIE... they poked me at least 6x... and finally gave up, and went for the top of my hand. I measured at this point at 100% effaced, 0 station, and 4 inches dilated... basically his head is there and ready... but they needed me to dilate 6 more cm. This was at 5:30 pm. Lori convinced me to walk a bit... and so I did. I only made it down the hallway and around the corner, before I realized I just couldn't walk anymore. With his head so low... I felt like I needed to push already, and couldn't... it felt like something was lodged in between my legs (because... it kind of was!) and I couldn't walk at all. So we made our way back to the room, and I sort of laid down a bit to continue to "rest" in between these contractions. They were about 2-3 minutes apart... and were taking my breath away, when the L&D nurse shift change happened.

I was greeted by Shante, who was going to take care of me until 7 am... hoping that this little guy was going to come into the word a lot sooner than that. At that point, I WANTED an epidural... oh did I... We shared my desire outloud, and she said she'd order that for me, but that at the moment, they were in an emergency C-Section (and my midwife was in there as well). This was at 8 pm. She said that the doctors could come in about 30 minutes.... 30 minutes passed... no one came. 15 minutes later in strolled my "dream team", the anesthesiologists... It took them about 15 minutes to go through patient history to make sure I was a good candidate... I assured them I was. I begged for them to "put in my epidural" in between contractions... they said they couldn't do that. At 9:15 pm, they had me sit up in bed... at the edge of the bed, and bend over my big basketball belly... and I have NEVER... EVER felt SO much pain in my entire life. They hadn't even poked me yet or anything... but the contractions were SO intense, I was groaning so lowly in order to get through them. IF my midwife had been around to check me before they started the epidural, this would be the point where they would have seen that I was in the middle of "transition" most likely... heading straight for the 10 cm... Having them poke my back, actually distracted me from the contractions. They pumped me full of the first dose by 9:30.. and the second dose by 9:35... my legs were only slightly bit tingled... but I continued to feel each and every blessed contraction. At 9:45 my midwife walked in, along with Shante... they put in a catheter.. and my midwife checked me... "Alright, " she said... "It's time to have a baby..."

Are you kidding me? I went through ALLLLL of that, to have absolutely NO relief and the urge to push?... yup. I tried not to dwell on that and at that point, I was ready to push... 15 minutes later (after they set up everything... you know that wonderful tray of "tools") at 10:00 pm on the dot... I waited for a contraction, and took my very first push. In that push, they could already see tons of hair and half of his head... next contraction came about 5 minutes later... and during that contraction, I was able to push 3 times, and got his entire head out... one last contraction about 1 minute later, brought the rest of him into this world... just like that. It was only 8 minutes of pushing... 8 minutes. They plopped our little man straight on my chest, at 10:08 pm... full of yummy lanugo goodness (being 2.5 weeks early). He was the slimiest little guy... and barely cried at first. He waited to hear my voice, tried to peep his eyes, and began crying the moment Daddy cut the umbilical cord (we did delayed cord clamping, just like we had with Marley).

It took until 3 am, to get moved into our recovery room... according to Shante, there were A LOT of deliveries that night... and they needed to make room for us all. They weighed him in at 6 lbs 14 oz, even though he first measured 6 lbs 15 oz... and 19.5 inches long. He felt like a little peanut compared to Marley. A very cute and handsome little peanut. The hubby stayed the rest of the early morning and slept... and I couldn't help but stare at our perfect little boy. Immediately, I was smitten...

The next day, I FINALLY enjoyed my very first cup of coffee that I hadn't had for awhile... and it was heavenly... and enjoyed some sweet baby boy cuddles before Daddy left to bring the girls in to introduce them to their baby brother.

Both girls were a little skeptical of their baby brother at first, and there's been some tough adjustments... but I think they're okay with him... they have to be okay with him... he's not going anywhere.

We named our little man Finn Mostyn Davis... Mostyn is a family name passed down from generation to generation (as a middle name)... and Finn means "small blonde soldier"... He's definitely small right now... He's sure to grow large... but soldier is definitely appropriate when you stick him in with two older sisters... 2 very rambunctious sisters that are super excited to play dress up with him.

Sweet Finn... you are SO loved... and just like that, we're officially outnumbered.

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"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." - C.S. Lewis